U.S. patent application Ser. No. 507,162 discloses a system for modifying the shape of a three dimensional object such as a tooth in a patient's mouth. The system includes a pantograph type assembly for feeding to a computer digitized data representing surface contours of the tooth. The pantograph assembly includes a hand-held probe inserted into the patient's mouth by a dentist. The dentist manipulates the probe so that a stylus tip of the instrument is held in contact with the tooth during tracing of a contour along the tooth. A pantograph extension outside the patient's mouth tracks the motion of the probe and particularly the stylus tip thereof, the motion of the pantograph extension being monitored by cameras which transmit video signals to the computer.
The computer shows on a monitor a graphic representation or image of the tooth. This image is generated from the digitized contour data and possibly also video data from an optical probe. In addition, the computer is preprogrammed with data on prosthetic dental appliances and/or dental restorations, forms of which are provided in a kit. These forms may be in a variety of materials. Images of these prosthetic appliances and/or restorations may also be displayed on the monitor under the control of the computer.
Such a system, including its software, presents an opportunity to advance in additional ways the daily practice of dentistry. For example, pocket depth information is conventionally obtained by visually reading a ruler on a stylus which is inserted into gingival pockets. The depth information is stored as numbers on a form or a sketch outlines on the form. More recently, the pocket depth information is available in the form of a chart print out upon manual transference of the depth information to a computer. Each such chart is a printed form with outlines of squares, circles and rectangles representing the individual teeth positions in a dental arch. Horizontal lines crossing the tooth symbol outline serve as measured demarcations in reference to root shapes. Roots are thus represented as two-dimensional shapes, outlined below the two-dimensional rectangular or ovoid shapes of the crowns.
The horizontal lines serve as printed references. Each line is an increment for measurements. In this way, pocket depth information is mapped in chart form. Various inaccuracies inherent in the current measurment methodology are carried into the examination data and are entered into the chart record as a subjective notation.
An X-ray film of a tooth or other dentitious structure contains a great quantity of useful information. However, X-ray data is obtained separately from the periodontal clinical data and both classes of data are read separately.
Further dental information obtained from direct observation include determinations of mobility, gingival thickness, presence of bleeding, calculus, etc. These observations are separately and manually noted on a chart.
Accordingly, current dental diagnostic practice involves a variety of different observational techniques; the results of the different observations are generally obtained or recorded in different media and thus in different places. Currently, there is no integrated diagnostic information store or single method of storing and presenting all the different observational results.
Another way of storing and presenting dental data is the study model. Study models are conventionally made of stone or plaster, although more recent technologies are based on more modern materials such as synthetic polymeric materials. Study moderls are necessary, or at least useful, in the diagnosis and treatment of bone disease, gum conditions and missing teeth.
Dental implants constitute a relatively recent development in dental practice and/or treatments. In an implant, the jaw bone of a patient is drilled to form a bore which receives a blade or anchor for an implant crown. To produce a desired and proper osseo integration and prosthetic and/or restorative placement of supra gingival restoration on the implant in its functional occlusal position, the dental practitioner or surgeon must precisely control the position, orientation and insertion of the blade or anchor. The ultimate position and orientation of the blade must take into account the thickness of the bone at the area of the implant, the proximity and orientation of adjacent teeth in the same jaw, and the location of teeth in the opposing jaw. In proper conventional implantation surgery, two or three people view the drill from different angles, to determine that the drilling is at a proper angle and location. Even under these circumstances, it is difficult to control the drilling operation so that the position obtained and orientation of the implant blade is optimal or acceptable.